Criminal Damage
Case Study: Operation Clean Up
Lead agency: Staffordshire Police & Staffordshire Moorlands Community Safety Partnership
Partners: Police, Fire and Rescue, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, Connexions, County Highways, Neighbourhood Watch, County Council, Moorlands Housing, DVLA, Prolific Offenders Project, local schools, Victim Support, Crime Prevention Panel.
Location: Biddulph and Leek, Staffordshire
Dates: October 2005 onwards
Summary: Operation Clean Up involved agencies working together over a two day period in an area of Leek to tackle community issues that are frequently under reported such as vandalism. Following the operation there were reductions in crime, in particular criminal damage reduced by 49%.
The problem
- Recorded crime data, Fire and Rescue data, Environmental Services data and Environmental Visual Audits highlighted Haregate in Leek as a hotspot for graffiti, abandoned vehicles, drug taking and dealing, broken windows, vandalised bus shelters and broken road signs. Back to top
Action taken
- The Community Safety Manager and Local Policing Commander organised an agency meeting between all partners. The partners launched a two day clean up operation in Haregate. The local Housing Authority gave the partners use of a disused shop in the hotspot area and the Community Safety Team provided lunch and drinks for all the agencies involved.
- To keep costs down partners worked their normal day, but within the specific location. Activities included high visibility policing, distribution of Crimestoppers leaflets, visits to repeat victims, car checks by the Police Road Crime Team, cars seized and fines issued by the DVLA, work by Education Welfare, school litter picks, neighbourhood watch member recruitment and sessions run in schools.
- A hotline number for Environmental Services was heavily publicised to encourage reporting.
- The Locality Action Group updated an education package on vandalism which had been delivered to schools before. The partnership arranged for bookmarks to be printed with key messages on vandalism for distribution to young people. The package was delivered by the local police community support workers within local schools and youth clubs. Back to top
What happened as a result?
- Within three months of the operation in Haregate crime reduced by 19% and criminal damage reduced by 49%.
- The operation has been carried out three times since October 2005 and criminal damage has continued to drop in those areas. Back to top
What made it work?
- Promoting the Environmental Services Hotline and the Crimestoppers number provided a way for the community to report criminal damage or provide information about who committed damage. This allowed visible action to be taken to clean up the problem, and resulted in arrests and warrants being executed. Back to top
Last update: Wednesday, June 27, 2007
